Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 317: Listen and Learn -- Covenants (Real Property)
For developers and property owners seeking to create multiple ownership interests on a single parcel in Washington, the condominium form of ownership provides a flexible and often efficient legal structure....more
We often hear parties use the terms right of first refusal (ROFR) and right of first offer (ROFO) interchangeably. While they do sound similar, they have different implications when it comes to being able to register a caveat...more
It is a longstanding law in Michigan that owners of real property have the right to restrict the future use of their property, but there are legal limits to those restrictions. It is common for developers of platted...more
The holiday season is here! And with that comes seasonal decorations, which may include bright lights, festive lawns, balcony and door displays, and other installations. Associations considering adopting and enforcing rules...more
Most of us think of “architecture” as building design—the creative and technical work that shapes the spaces we inhabit. But community governance has an architecture too. ...more
Their governing documents, specifically the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (commonly called CC&Rs, covenants, or the declaration), and Bylaws, establish the legal and operational framework for how a...more
While there are many benefits to owning property in a common interest community, most people love to hate them. Condemnors should be especially wary when seeking to acquire property owned by a homeowners association....more
If done well, enforcement fosters harmony and neighborly behavior within the community. However, to be done well, enforcement of the Covenants must be carried out in a legally sound, fair, and consistent manner....more
Let’s assume that you purchase a 105 acre farm in Greene County in 2022. You purchase only the surface estate while the seller, Farmer Jones, retains the underlying oil and gas rights. You intend to grow corn and winter...more
Breaking news from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit involving the case of RJ's International Trading, LLC vs. Crown Castle South, LLC. The court has certified a pivotal question to the Florida...more
In a recent case, the Florida Supreme Court held that an arbitration covenant contained in a developer’s original deed also bound the second owner. The case serves as a good reminder that, although a subsequent owner of...more
In Texas, what happens to an obligation to bury pipelines when, after creation of the obligation, the surface and minerals are severed? Henry v. Smith explains....more
Welcome back to the Law School Toolbox podcast! This is another installment of our "Listen and Learn" series, where we review legal concepts and apply them to fact patterns. Today, we're going to explore covenants, a type of...more
According to myth, there lies in the Scottish Highlands a village untouched by reality or time. Immortalized by the 1940s Broadway musical and later Gene Kelly film of the same name, this is Brigadoon—an enchanted place that...more
The New York State rule against perpetuities is based on the common law rule and provides that “no estate in property shall be valid unless it must vest, if at all, not later than twenty-one years after one or more lives in...more
The ability to assume or reject executory contracts is one of the primary tools used by debtors in a Chapter 11 reorganization. Where a debtor has a contract with a third party that is “executory”—meaning that ongoing...more
Is a midstream contract treated the same as other executory contracts in bankruptcy, subject to assumption and rejection pursuant to the US Bankruptcy Code? An executory contract is any contract of the debtor where both the...more
On Oct. 28, 2020, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas delivered a key ruling affecting: (1) purchase and sale agreements for produced gas and severed minerals; and (2) agreements with “exclusive...more
Over the past five years, bankruptcy courts have analyzed whether oil and gas producers’ contracts with midstream oil, gas, and produced water companies may be rejected if they create covenants running with the land. Through...more
In a closely watched case, the Texas Supreme Court (the "Court") held that the special warranty language used in a special warranty deed “qualifies” an implied covenant that the person conveying the land owns what he/she is...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Rule 1.491: Recommendation of immediate default entered by general magistrate violated the notice requirements of Rule 1.500, and was objectionable, but borrower waived the right to...more
Real Property Update - Covenant Running With Land: Rejecting association’s argument on appeal that trial court erred in finding that recorded agreement was not a restrictive covenant running with the land but a personal...more
A landowner grants a license by allowing someone else to use the land. A license can be created by express permission, or by acquiescence (allowing the use with full knowledge and without objecting). Normally, a license is...more
In a leading precedent handed down in 2018—Sabine Oil & Gas Corp. v. Nordheim Eagle Ford Gathering, LLC (In re Sabine Oil & Gas Corp.), 734 Fed. Appx. 64 (2d Cir. May 25, 2018)—the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit...more
Ever since the Sabine Oil and Gas Corp. bankruptcy (the top of the first, If it were baseball), where a New York court construed Texas property law to hold that a gathering agreement was not a covenant running with the land,...more